PrestaShop, which was introduced in 2007, has grown to be one of the most well-liked e-commerce systems in Europe and Latin America because to its adaptability and extensive set of built-in features. Presently, more than 265,000 sites use it globally.
The year 2022 was a turning point in the history of this platform because PrestaShop 8, a significant version update, was launched. PrestaShop 1.7, the previous iteration, was released in 2016.
Many changes and new features are included in PrestaShop 8.0. We have compiled all the necessary details into this post to lead you through its peculiarities.
Read on if you’re interested in learning more about the new features in this PrestaShop release or considering upgrading to the most recent version.
PrestaShop said in their official blog that a new version would be out soon in December 2021. August 2022 saw the introduction of PrestaShop 8 Beta. The developers also announced that PrestaShop 8 is now formally available for download on GitHub in October 2022.
The PrestaShop 8 release provided users with many significant improvements. Among them are the following:
- An updated version of Symfony 4.4
- PrestaShop compatibility with PHP 8.1
- A new password policy and session management features
- WebP support
And more, in addition to over 170 bug fixes.
PrestaShop 8 is also PrestaShop’s first company-neutral version, which means it’s free from built-in commercial products and services. Addons Marketplace is no longer a part of the project, but it’s possible to install it independently.
Now, let’s take a closer look into the reasons for upgrading your online store from PrestaShop 1.7 to version 8.0.
PrestaShop 8: New Features
PrestaShop 8 brought many bug fixes, a better user experience, and a faster loading speed.
We have already had a chance to evaluate all the advantages of the new PrestaShop edition. Below are the main benefits of upgrading to PrestaShop 8.
PHP 8.0 and 8.1 Support
PrestaShop 8 requires at least PHP 7.2 and provides compatibility with the latest PHP 8.1 version supported until November 2024. Security and performance improvements come with each PHP version update, so running PrestaShop on the most recent version of PHP is vital.
Symfony and Library Updates
Symfony 4.4 usage provides a high security level and improved performance.
The creators of PrestaShop 1.7 started a revolution when they switched to Symfony. It was followed by Symfony versions 2.8 and 3.4, and version 4.4 is now available in PrestaShop 8 and will be supported until November 2023. We can expect refinements to the Symfony framework along with upcoming PrestaShop versions.
Security Features
PrestaShop 8 introduces a new password policy management feature.
- Users can now see their password strength when registering
- Administrators can configure the store’s password policy (from simple to complex)
- Store administrators can view users’ sessions history and disable their sessions remotely
These innovations assure store owners and clients that transaction processing is secure and the protection against external intrusion or hackers is high. Simplified checkout reduces the risk of credit card fraud or other malicious activity.
Modern Image Formats Support
The PrestaShop 8 version supports the popular WebP image format for products. WebP guarantees better compression at equal image quality compared to JPEGs and PNGs. And smaller file sizes speed up page loading.
These changes are available on the tab Design->Image Settings.
PrestaShop 8 developers have also added popular Svg image format support for the store logo (available on tab Design->Theme Logo).
Product Page Features
The product page has been upgraded compared to version 1.7.8. Besides, the combination management and bulk edition have been noticeably improved.
But the new product page isn’t yet supplied with all the features of the standard product page (in particular, there’s no support for multi-shops), so it’s disabled by default. You can still enable it under Advanced Parameters->Experimental Features, but it’s not recommended if you have a multistore.
The updated product page will become fully functional in the 8.1 release. It’ll be used there by default.
SEO Features
The new edition includes several SEO features that PrestaShop didn’t have before.
- You can now add a block of SEO-optimized text at the bottom of category pages to increase their visibility in SERPs
- Administrators can use 410 Gone status for items discontinued from sale
- You can add the page number along with title meta tags
- Real-time character count is available to maintain the description limit
It’s supposed to help sites to rank higher in SERPs.
DKIM Signatures Support for E-mails
This feature decreases the risk of your store’s e-mails being marked as spam. You can configure it under Advanced Parameters->E-mail.
Media Versioning
Developers can now use multimedia versioning to prevent loading outdated javascript files and stylesheets from the browser cache.
A new parameter has been added to the registerJavascript and registrerStylesheet methods, which allows module developers to add a version parameter. It’s added to the asset’s URL, so browsers will download the new asset instead of loading the old version from the local cache if the version changes.
Typescript Usage
All Symfony-based page scripts are now written in TypeScript. It offers many language features not included in Javascript; the most vital among them is strong typing. Strictly-typed code reduces the percentage of errors that might remain unnoticed and negatively affect site performance.
This change is supposed to improve the code, reduce bugs, and enhance the long-term maintainability of the project.
To support the performance of your PrestaShop 8, you really need good and reliable hosting. If you require hosting options for PrestaShop 8, we can suggest ASPHostPortal as a provider.